Tea World

Lesson 010

Selection of Nursery Site

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The site for the vegetative propagation should be an open highland having free air circulation. The site should not be waterlogged and should have a perennial water source. The site should easily accessible by good roads for constant and easy supervision having no jungles or big trees nearby.

The best soil for the tea nursery is sandy loam type. It should not be very sandy or very heavy and should be virgin as far as possible. The soil should have fine structure with uniform depth and be fairly fertile. It should not contain high organic carbon. The soil should be acidic with a pH range of 4.4 to 5.5 and the number of nematodes count should not be more than 6 per 10 g soil sample.

In case of heavy soil, the physical condition can be improved by the addition of sand and/or well rotten, dry and sieved cattle manure or compost in different proportions to the soil based upon its clay or silt content. The pH value of the soil below or above 4.5 and 5.5 may be adjusted by the addition of lime or aluminum sulphate in required proportion. Soil treated with aluminum sulphate in finely ground form should be watered thoroughly several times and may be used after 6-8 weeks.

Nematodes may be controlled by treating the soil with a suitable nematicide in one litre water for every cubic metre (m3) sleeve soil or 10 square metre (m2) of bed surface followed by watering. The cuttings or seeds may be planted about 4 weeks after the treatment.

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